For the last week or so, there's been a back-and-forth happening in my Monday Project list between Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton films and to this point, Keaton has been dominating Chaplin to an embarrassing degree. I'm going to save my thoughts on Buster Keaton for a special posting in the next week or two, but suffice to say that The General is one of very few movies that I'm prepared to label virtually perfect! Few movies of any era have so completely impressed me with their craft and artistry so immediately as this classic Keaton film and to follow it with Chaplin's The Kid (a classic in its own right) was not quite fair. I then followed this up with Keaton's The Cameraman (spectacular!!) and the match score quickly became 2-0. I thought I was on my way to a major blow-out...
But Modern Times, ah! This is more like it.
It's in this movie that I can see most clearly the appeal and permanence of Charlie Chaplin. The film is fun, sophisticated, intricate and exciting to the maximum degree, loaded with the sorts of classic sequences that determine a legendary movie. Proof lies no further than the opening of the film as Chaplin works on a factory line, his sole job to tighten two bolts on every piece of industrial steel that runs past him. It's in this section of the film that we see the iconic image of the Tramp being consumed by the factory machine, winding his way through the gears until he is spit back out the top. An effective image for anyone looking for a message, and a remarkably entertaining stunt to boot! However, the grace-note comes when Chaplin finishes his shift and steps away from the conveyor, his entire body still shaking and twitching to the rhythm of the assembly line; physical comedy that Chaplin makes look easy but creates a surprising level of sympathy as he approaches a nervous breakdown.
Other sections of the film are equally exciting and there is no shortage of original ideas. At the top of this list is the disturbing machine introduced by management at the factory as a way of feeding its employees their lunch as they work (maximum productivity!) Chaplin becomes the guinea pig to demonstrate the device and his interaction with the machine (which appears to be a sort of industrial torture device) is the thing of nightmares as food is literally forced into his mouth. In another scene, Chaplin also traps a mechanical co-worker in the massive gears of an industrial machine so only his head remains. All of this makes the movie (and industrial workplace) sound sort of horrific and I guess that's the point; however all of the situations are delivered with Chaplin's light touch, mining the real comedy in each.
Most affecting is the way Chaplin finds something positive in the bleak situation of the Gamin (the matchless Paulette Goddard) who is orphaned and homeless. Chaplin's Tramp provides hope and friendship, breaking her from prison and sharing in her dream of a "normal" life.
It's easy now to forget that Modern Times was created at the height of the Depression and that poverty was a very immediate problem, not an abstract history lesson. While it has been argued that Chaplin's film rests much of the blame for this social problem on the automation of industry, the film deliberately counters the horrific industrial imagery with a very humanistic story. In fact, I think it's the relationship of these two outcasts, finding companionship and support together that is the beating heart of Modern Times and elevates the film from a kinetic comedy to a real masterpiece.
One last treat I want to mention: I consider Smile to be one of the great songs of the 20th Century and to see it played here in context, through the quiet scenes shared between Chaplin and the Gamin, is wonderful. The final scene of the film is astonishing, one of those special movie moments when one can feel the scene transcending the movie and lifting itself into those film-history reels that grace every Academy Award show. The parting shot of Chaplin and the Gamin walking away down the road is a wonderful image for The Tramp's final screen appearance (it's my understanding that Chaplin never used the character in a movie again).
Perhaps the only misstep in the film is the decision to have Chaplin's Tramp character sing a short song (even if it was sung for laughs in a mock-German accent). As I understand it, Chaplin was under tremendous pressure to create a "talkie" (Modern Times was released 9 years after the innovation of sound-cinema) but he maintained enough control over his films to allow the Tramp character to remain silent. Nevertheless, to hear Chaplin's actual voice coming from this traditionally silent character, even for just a brief moment, actually removed a little of the mythos. Thankfully, the effect is short-lived but it's a damaging note in an otherwise amazing film.
The Keaton-Chaplin fest will continue in the weeks to come as I have already begun sourcing copies of other films that need to be considered. I hope soon to watch films like City Lights, The Gold Rush and The Great Dictator in addition to Our Hospitality, Sherlock Jr and Steamboat Bill, Jr. I'm still finding myself to be a monstrous Buster Keaton fan but am also finding lots to appreciate and enjoy in the work of Charlie Chaplin. (Harold Lloyd will also have his turn in the fray in the coming weeks...)
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